Thinking about “adventure”

“Is the word ‘adventure’ becoming cliche?” was a question posed on The Facebook by Drunk Cyclist Chris the other morning. He got all sorts of replies, some of them serious, some of them not.

I replied, “It’s a state of mind. Duh.”

I wanted to reply something along the lines of “only if it’s preceded by the word ‘epic’,” but I restrained myself. I hate the word epic.

Epic’d, yes. Epic, no.

But it did get me thinking: What is an adventure?

I’ve been having a hard time thinking about blogging again, like I’m out of practice writing about anything besides what happened on the CDT, which was a trip that I consider an adventure. What could I possibly write about that could compare to that?

Today I sat in front of my computer and made money. I cuddled with my 16 year old dog who still thinks she’s three and tries to attack any other dog we see on our walk. I took a two hour nap instead of doing something active. I ate leftover flourless chocolate cake from my dad’s birthday. I tried to convince Scott that it was still warm enough in Idaho to do the ACA’s hot springs route before going back to Tucson.

But really, I’m of the mindset that adventure can happen in every day life if you let it. I’m also of the mindset of saying yes to as many opportunities as I can, so when I got a text from Kay at 8:45 pm saying, “We’re riding Ned tomorrow, want me to pick you up?” I replied yes, even though I knew I was in no shape to be riding, let alone riding with a whole gaggle of fast girls.

But I’m glad I went, as it turned into an unintentional mini-adventure complements of running low on time, running into some unhappy land owners, flat tires, and hills that kicked my ass.

I got home absolutely wrecked, but not for a second regretted going. Riding with girls is fun and I miss it. Recovery is for people who can’t think of anything fun to do.

So if I were to call it an adventure, would I be being cliche?

I guess I’ve been called worse things, so I’m going to keep calling every day of this amazing life an adventure. Because it is. It really is.